Summer 25 pups

[Lavenderdog]

Any other new puppy owners around this summer? Have been looking back at some of the old puppy support threads and can see how helpful it was for those posters to share their experiences.

9 week old mini schnauzer here - so toilet training and avoiding those needle sharp teeth are the current main activities here!

(And being tolerant of her determination to rid my garden of lavender plants. Hence my user name 😂)

@LandSharksAnonymous he's definitely a cuddler! And a licker and a nibbler of earlobes if he gets chance 😂

Does Eris seem like a snuggler too?

He seems to have found his voice a lot more lately! He really surprised me a few times this week by barking at people going past the house. It’s not over the top or going crazy, more ears up, looking out and doing a little “woof” pause then another “woof”

Hope all is going well @Struckbylightning

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding I am very very VERY jealous. It just hit 28 here but there's a bit of a breeze so it's not too bad. How's Rory doing today? Is it hot enough you've cracked out the pink paddling pool? 😃

@VanGoSunflowers oh bless him! Is it still quite high pitched? I imagine it is as his age 😍Eris has not been that snuggly with me but I have caught her asleep on my DDs - so she's showing her snuggly side, just not with me! Probably a good thing as if she tried to snuggle with me she'd end up being flattened by the brainless one (twatdog) or one of the girls.

Just wait until Pablo discovers the ear canal...Twatdog has always been a lover of sticking his tongue as far into my ear as he can.

@LandSharksAnonymous it is literally perfect weather today! I think I’ll give up working soon and go and play in the garden with Rory, definitely in his pink paddling pool 😂. He’s so good, we’re all working from home today (well not DS, he’s going out to work this evening) and he just potters about all day or naps. He’s currently working on a frozen salmon paste Kong. Yum 🤢.

Billy was also a fan of cleaning out ears. He’d literally push your face to the other side to make sure he’d cleaned both for you. And cleaning between your fingers which was actually quite relaxing 😂. Dog owners are weird aren’t we?? 😂

@VanGoSunflowers Rory found his voice when he discovered our tortoise, he is not a fan!

@LandSharksAnonymous both Billy and Rory have/ had big boy barks! I remember the first day we got Billy, this tiny 8 week old puppy let out a single enormous bark and frightened the life out of all of us 😂.

I get ear washing and very thorough finger cleaning. I sometimes get painful nibbling type grooming from mine and they've all done it. Brie actually did it to my cousin's daughter on their last visit - she's a student vet, and was over the moon when I told her I think she's part of Brie's flock now. Brie sits on her lap now too.

Envious of those big boy barks @Idratherbepaddleboarding . I have a silent guard dog. The breed is notorious for barking and our previous boy was nicknamed "The Wall of Noise", but Brie, quiet as a mouse. It's quite embarrassing - our neighbours have started to comment about it 😂

Yes please for the link!
And I don’t think you are a gobshite at all. I totally get what you are saying. There are 2 other adults in this house and trying to get consistency with the pup is really hard. My (lovely) DH sometimes works from home and by the end of the day he can’t cope with the zoomies or the shark attacks and gets annoyed. He also leaves the wrong doors open or forgets to put the loo roll on a high shelf etc etc. (Merry has just decided she is the Andrex dog).

My son when he’s at home just wants cuddles from the dog which she’s not always in the mood for, or he roughhouses with her which undermines all my hard work trying to get her out of the biteyness. Sometimes I want to throttle them all!

LandSharks, she was a bit better last night, we did a bit of training and lots of outside in the garden time but she settled down at about 10 o’clock which was such a relief. I also got a bit of time out of the house in the afternoon while my son puppy-sat. I think that helped (me!) quite a lot. It’s pretty intense isn’t it.

@LandSharksAnonymous Pablo is the same as @Idstillratherbepaddleboarding’s boy and previous boy - the first time I heard him bark I actually for a moment didn’t think it was from him! It’s quite a deep woof from such a little pup!
I didn’t think Labs were particularly prone to barking at people outside the house but there we go 😂

@MonCoubousMonTourmalet I get nibble groomed too 😂 he seems quite determined when he does it so maybe he thinks I’m not clean enough 😂

@Struckbylightning this is the one I bought:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B005X27LCK?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I have similar challenges on occasion with DS but as he is only 7, it’s far easier to tell him to stop! The phrase ‘stop winding the dog up else he will get bitey’ has been used a lot and he does listen now.

Some things have to go out of the window such as walks - DS is as excited as Pablo to get to the field so they can run around together which is very sweet, but then DS is running ahead and jumping over things so of course Pablo starts to pull because he wants to join in - I just leave them both be in that scenario 😂
DS has also been told enough now to not bother him when he’s asleep!

Have you decided on whether you’ll get her for walks sooner rather than later to try and temper the zoomies a bit?

@MonCoubousMonTourmalet oh they’d both make dreadful guard dogs! Unless they manage to love the burglars to death!

Watching him before, I think he might actually be trying to play with the tortoise as he was play bowing and trying to get her to chase him. Ermmm good luck with that!

@VanGoSunflowers, I have the same problem with DH, he works away all week then comes home and it all goes to pot. Last week, I came home from abandoning Rory for hours a walk to the shop at the end of the road and he jumped up at me when I came back in. I did the whole “paws on the floor” thing and stood up straight til he sat nicely then said hello and gave him fuss. Then DH announced that “we” (ie me) “need to do something about this jumping up”. I was like, did you not just see me doing exactly that?! DH does have a propensity to catastrophise and obviously a puppy that we’ve had for less than 2 weeks is going to have a problem with jumping up forever more 🙈🙈.

That's so sweet about Rory and the tortoise @Idratherbepaddleboarding
Brie also does play bowing (and Tigger bouncing with all four paws off the ground) for our cat. Needless to say the cat (who is 13) is less than impressed 🙄

Well not far from us there is a large industrial type estate with a really big car park, which is the least doggy place I can think of, we were thinking we might take her over there for a wander and sniff around. It will be empty after 6pm and unlikely to meet any dogs.

We did just have a hilarious puppy incident. DH was on a VIP work call in the kitchen and the dog came hurtling through from the garden with, of all things, an old birds nest. She managed to spray dried mud, leaves, straw and god knows what else all the way through the house. It did at least mean that I have now hoovered the whole of the downstairs. Merry has now met the hoover (ironically, it’s a Shark!)

I had to tell my DH off as he taught Vinny a new 'trick' to jump up really high so DH could catch him in his arms 🙄I said for one, it is TERRIBLE for his joints (plus he has luxating patella in his back leg), and two - is it really a good idea to teach a dog that they can jump into random people's arms and they will catch him?! I will never understand the logic.

@VanGoSunflowers V is the same with dd. She loves to come down to the field with us and run about but it sends him bonkers, and despite me telling her 1 million times to not run ahead when he's on his lead, she still does it and he drags me after her. I am surprised he's not pulled me over yet!

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding how was the paddling pool!? I can't believe Rory and Pablo @VanGoSunflowers have big boy barks already! She is admittedly a fair bit younger, but Eris just sounds like someone sat on a squeaky toy. Twatdog has never really discovered his big boy bark, but I am just eternally grateful he doesn't have a husky howl like one of my previous girls did. Every morning at the crack of dawm it was 'ah-woooo'

I have to confess that I live in fear of DH returning and installing bad behaviour in the dogs. Honestly @YorkshireFelix I'm not surprised you told your DH off! Last time DH was home he tried to teach Twatdog how to count (using treats) which involved him encouraging Twatdog to tap his paw against the floor to say how many treats he wanted. Apparently he watched a youtube video (sigh). A great idea in theory, brilliant brain work etc. Except we have wooden bloody floors and Twatdog only has one brain cell, so the total nitwit just ending up scratching my floors AND getting overstimulated.

@Struckbylightning oh I'm glad last night was better! Do you think the heat helped (assuming it was as warm for you as it was for me). Did you decide to take her out tonight in the end?

I do love how so many of us are subjected to the ear cleaning/washing from our dogs and love it anyway 😍

So this evening we took her to an empty car park for her first outing. She definitely seemed to enjoy sniffing the new smells and a different environment. She came home and flaked out. She’s just woken up for supper and we will see if she gets the evening zoomies or not…it has been a little cooler last night and this evening.

Errrm does anyone know what effect a fig might have on a puppy tummy?? I’m mostly annoyed that she found a ripe fig before I got to eat it, but also slightly worried about what her next toilet visit might produce.

@LandSharksAnonymous he loved it thanks!

Wait, is Twatdog a husky?? He’s a pug in my head 😂 no idea why!

@Struckbylightning oh that’s great news! First walks are always so exciting. The fig shouldn’t do too much damage but it might be a bit runny…if you get my jist!

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding Goldie! I have four adults (three girls, and twatdog) and a puppy (also a girl) right now 😥

@YorkshireFelix Glad it’s not just me 😂 I feel like I’m in a constant state of wondering whether or not I’m being unfair to either one of them against the other. And this is why I only had one child 😂🤦‍♀️ also don’t blame you for being annoyed at the dog jumping trick. I mean, part of me is wondering how on earth you would even start training a dog to do that (not that I would, I don’t fancy my lab flinging himself at me in the hope that I would catch him 😂

@LandSharksAnonymous little puppy yaps are adorable, Pablo may bring out a big boy bark occasionally but he still does little high-pitched ‘woofs’ in his sleep 🥰
I do feel for you the counting trick but I must admit to enjoying the image of a tap-dancing twatdog 😂

@Struckbylightning oh first walk! Yay! Glad she enjoyed it, how was the rest of your evening after that?

It’s MUCH cooler here today so am looking forward to a decent walk with Pablo this morning while exH takes DS swimming and whatnot.

P jumps up into my arms. She's currently teaching K to do it. 🤦‍♀️
P does it as a way of escape in situations that worry her, like if another dog is bothering her. It's great if she gets the timing right. Not so great when I'm not looking and she manages to whack me in the nose. I keep saying I should train her to do it properly, in a calm manner.

I am laughing at the idea of Twatdog being a pug. 😂
Must admit I don't know everyone's dog breed - I imagine they are all labs though, as that seems to be the chosen breed at the minute. Someone needs to step up and get another spaniel before we are overtaken.

@LandSharksAnonymous oh! Haha definitely not a pug then! DS wanted a golden retriever (well he still does when he’s an adult) and DH did consider one but I was put off by always seeing golden retrievers lying in a pool of mud in winter 😂.

Has anyone got and doggy adventures planned for this lovely Saturday? We’re going to a nearby woods/ river. I’m a bit apprehensive TBH as it was one of Billy’s favourite places but I just need to bite the bullet or I’ll be avoiding so many places!

@SpanielsGalore us Lab owners are plotting world domination mwahahhahaaa

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding waiting for mine to wake up so we can get out for a walk! It’s nice and cool here today. Hope you enjoy the woods and it’s brings back nice memories of Billy as well as creates new ones with Rory

@VanGoSunflowers if he was tap-dancing, I'd be very impressed! As it was, it was more just throwing paws everywhere and clawing up my floor 😩

@SpanielsGalore Oh god. Can you imagine Twatdog being a pug? His elephant would dwarf him 😆I think most people have retrievers, spaniels and poodles! DMum is definitely a Spaniel convert now, I caught her earlier gazing at Spaniel Aid (Winnie and Thumper specifically) and bemoaning the fact that she can't have more dogs - Satan might get on well enough with my brood, but it's taken years to get her to accept them! I must admit I am developing quite the soft spot for Cocker Spaniels...

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding Definitely not a pug! I have to say, the mud/dirt has never really been an issue (at least not yet), the bigger issue is the shedding - there's constant tumble-furs of Goldie fur in the house. What I will say though, is that the amount of fur makes them really good snugglers.

We went to a Pinetum about 40 minutes away from us this morning (up super early before it even opened and parked on the road). It was a full family outing; three cars, seven dogs (of which six were Goldies), my DC, my parents, DSis and her DC. We were done with the walk by about 8ish, so before the Pinetum opened, which is probably a good thing as no one wants to encounter a huge group like us. Then into our local town on the way back for coffee and bacon rolls. It sounds very idyllic and nice, but actually about 90 minutes is our limit for family gatherings 😃My back kills now as I had Eris strapped to me the entire time. But she's been asleep since - so it must have worn her out.

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding how was it in the end? All of mine have loved Holkham Beach, so whenever we go on holiday when I've just lost one I always end up crying. But then the good memories take over, and I love the fact that all of dogs have all loved the same place as it's something that links them together.

@LandSharksAnonymous yes the hair too, I imaging they shed as much as land but their hair is so much longer!

That sounds like a lovely outing although a little early for me on a Saturday!

It was good, if a little flat. Billy was sooo high octane and he loved swimming whereas Rory is so much more chilled out although he is better behaved! Rory had a paddle and he’s getting braver but he was mostly wanting to sniff about which is less interactive. He did also meet our neighbours dog on the way out annd they had an play and we went to a lovely cafe/ restaurant for coffee and cakes in the way so he was a bit tired already. We should have done it the other way round. He was an angel in the cafe though!

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding oh god yes, and the fur clumps together in big lumps!

Do you think maybe Rory is a bit unsure and will grow into being more outgoing? Or just more chilled by nature? To be honest it sounds like it was a great day though, and good that he was tired for the cafe - that way he can get used to being out and about whilst he's tired so when he does go when he's not tired he might not be as manic!